Mark IV
The Mark IV (or Tank, Mark IV) was the most produced British tank of World War I and the improved successor of the Mark I, the first tank to be engaged in the conflict. History The director of the Tank Supply Department, Albert Gerald Stern, first intended to fit the Mark IV with a new engine and transmission, but as he failed to complete development soon enough to start production in time to have 200 tanks ready for the promised date of 1 April 1917, he was forced to put the Mark IV in production that was only slightly different from the Mark I tank. The differences were the armor that thickened from 12mm for the Mark I to 14mm for the Mark IV, the replacement of long barrels QF 6-pdr to shorter ones and the Hotchkiss machine-guns were replaced by Lewis machine-guns. The Mark IV was first used in large numbers on 7 June 1917, during the British assault on Messines Ridge and then at the Third Battle of Ypres on 31 July 1917, where the preliminary 24-day long barrage had destroyed all drainage and heavy rain had soaked the field, the tanks found it heavy going and contributed little, those that sank into the swampy ground were immobilized and became easy targets for enemy artillery. On 20 November 1917 460 Mark IV tanks were engaged during the Battle of Cambrai proving that a large concentration of tanks can overcome any trench system. The first tank-to-tank battle in history occurs during the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918 opposing Mark IV tanks and German A7V. Approximately 40 Mark IV saw service in Germanys ranks under the designation Beutepanzerwagen Mark IV with a crew of 12 instead of 8 on British service. Some of these had their 6-pdr gun replaced by a German 57mm gun and some machine guns replaced by Mauser T-Gewehr 13mm AT-Rifles. In Girls und Panzer Anime The Mark IV was featured on the film "Introduction to Sensha-dō" in Episode 1. Das Finale The Mark IV was first used in a back room of the Donzoko bar as a smoking machine. Ogin, Murakami, Rum, Flint and Cutlass would crew the tank as the Shark Team. The tank was then extracted and restored by Leopon Team. During the match against BC Freedom High School, it was stuck in water due to its lack of speed and power when crossing a river bed and the Rabbit Team help them out by pushing it to help it gain some speed. When trapped on the bridge the Mark IV was used, due to it length as a ramp to allow other tanks to get off the bridge before it was destroyed by BC Freedom. Trivia *Using as a ramp on the broken bridge in Das Finale Part 1 to escape from attacks from BC Freedom tanks is a reference to the British WWI tanks ability of crossing trenches. *Alongside with the B1 Bis, the M3 Lee and the Maus, the Mark IV is one of the only tanks present in the franchise to have more than one weapon (excluding machine guns). *Despite having two main cannon in its sponsons with each could turn 100 degrees, only the starboard cannon of Mark IV able to be fired straight ahead. *Though seems similar, the internal structure of both sponsons in its port and starboard side is not mirror-imaged. This to accommodate the need of gunner in the right and loader in the left side of each cannon. *Oddly Shark Team's Mark IV seems to be equipped with radio equipment that was specific to the Mark I tank, on which their Jolly Roger flag is attached. *The Mark IV is the first WWI tank to be shown in the anime and second in the franchise as a whole, the first being FT-17 making its debut in the manga Fierce Fight! It's the Maginot Battle!. *The Mark IV is the slowest tank in the show taking the FT-17's place, having a 1.3 km/h (or 1 mph) slower top speed. *During WWI, there were no such thing as light, medium, or heavy tanks. In British terminology tanks were classified into "Male" and "Female" differing from their armament, Males were armed with cannons, Females were armed with machine-guns and Hermaphrodite was a mix of both. Category:Tanks Category:British Tanks Category:Heavy Tanks Category:WWI Tanks Category:Ooarai Girls' High School Category:Shark Team Category:TemporaryCategory